I recently spoke with an educator, living in the Atlanta area, who is an assistant principal at a predominately black (99.8%) elementary school in south Atlanta. Our discussion was riveting, sad, encouraging and informative. I asked him to rank in his opinion the greatest problems facing the black students in his school. At the top of the list was the reality that many of his students have an inferiority complex. There are certain types of inferiority complexes among black youth just like there are various types of giftedness in the areas of intellectual, creative, and artistic development. Regardless of the reasons for such a complex, the causes of which are extensive and multi-dimensional, the fact remains that many black youth suffer from an inferiority complex. In other words, they have low expectations of themselves or sense that they should not or are unable to perform as well as others. Of course, the issue of performance is at the heart of both the way one lives and the way one views himself apart and in relation to others. So the black male deals with an unhealthy sense of impression as well as expression. Impression or the way one views themselves and expression or how that impression develops outwardly, which are supposed to be points of value and knowledge, instead become hindrances in life.

Importantly one may state, “The gospel of Jesus Christ in certain ways alleviates and in certain ways enables one to put their inferiority complex in right perspective.” This of course is true. But how does the gospel accomplish this purpose? In answering this question, we are lead again to focus on the original author, in this case Moses. A very important question and I think an equally basic question to coincide with this fundamental truth of the gospel is: “How or in what way does the original author communicate to his audience such that feelings of inferiority, insignificance or doubt are influenced and changed?” (This basic question brings us to realize the power and purpose of the gospel. Salvation from the Pauline perspective or context would perhaps be defined: to transform vessels of dishonor into vessels of gracious obedience and glorification to God through Christ. The gospel in the Mosaic perspective or context would perhaps be defined: to guide those who are at present afar off from the Lord’s full covenantal blessings into a life of holy rest and abundance with Him through obedience to their covenantal King.) In other words, “What is the Bible supposed to do to you and how does it go about accomplishing its purposes?” Such a question is book specific: “What is Genesis supposed to do to you and how does it go about accomplishing God’s purposes?” And also it is author specific, “What is Moses attempting to do to his audience and how does he go about accomplishing God’s purposes?”

But I digress. The question before us is: “How does divine creation speak to such a calamity as an inferiority complex among adolescents, particularly black youth, and on the flip side how does an inferiority complex allow us to better understand divine creation?” This is a question for the theologian or exegete just as it is a question for the social worker, educator or the parent. Unfortunately, many exegetes do not consider such an issue as an inferiority complex to be in direct relationship with biblical or theological endeavors and our God-hating society attempts to disengage people from interaction between such woes and biblical truth. But dealing with such an issue as an inferiority complex can do as much for one’s theology as one’s theology can provide perspective and clarity on an inferiority complex. For the sake of our society and beliefs, we must think on this reciprocation.

One of the basic facts of an inferiority complex is that the individual questions their own God-given purpose, distinction and ability in relation to the power and strength of those around them. An example of such doubt is found among the Israelites in Numbers 13:28-33 as they cowered before the powers residing in the Promised Land. How does the creation account combat such drastic doubt? Moses’ depiction of man as being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) counteracts both inferiority complexes and general conflicts one may have with their identity.

Ancient Near Eastern cultures described kings and pharaohs as the image of god, i.e. as the representatives of the gods; an image of the god (the king) was seen as the carrier of the god's spirit and his presence signified the presence of the god. Moses wrote the creation account to an audience living in the desert that questioned their own value and ability in light of the apparent value and power of the Ancient Near Eastern kings and armies.

The Israelites meager resources paled when compared to the great wealth and prominence of the Pharaohs and armies. But in Genesis, Moses redefines the concept of the image of God by democratizing it thereby communicating that all humanity (not just the kings) bear the image of God. This of course also was a direct redefining of Israel’s concept of the purpose and nature of a “god” as well as a redefining of those who professed to believe in such gods. This God, Yahweh, was not like the gods of the Ancient Near East, like the gods of the enemy. As the Israelites journeyed in the Wilderness, they were to gain great confidence that their God was Sovereign and therefore, His wonderful purposes for their lives could not be thwarted by powers of the land.

Moses’ creation account is therefore supposed to provide the people of God today with strength, encouragement and reassurance on their journey in life as it provided encouragement for the Israelites in the face of powerful forces. If someone believes that they are inferior or lesser in value and ability than others, Moses’ creation account can speak directly to their need and void. An understanding of the image of God, if communicated properly, lovingly and thoughtfully, can counteract an inferiority complex.

For various reasons, the concept of the image of God is not continually rooted and reinforced in our biblical understanding of who we are as humans and therefore it is not sufficiently rooted in our theology. But as we learn more about the Bible, we realize that God’s Word addresses many problems in very powerful ways. We realize great ways in which the Bible intersects and meets our lives head on and forces us to deal with problems or struggles perhaps we were not aware we or those around us faced.

We are unable to demonstrate or appreciate God’s sovereignty if we are incarcerated by an inferiority complex. From the passage in Numbers we realize that an inferiority complex not only brings into question our understanding about the nature of God, it evidences the misconceptions we have of ourselves. Often, when targeting inferiority complexes in young people, we talk particularly of the power of God. We attempt to convince a 13 year old of why he shouldn’t doubt his ability and worth based on the power of God. This is of course a Biblical course of action theoretically but practically, it is difficult to explain to a 13 year old what the “power of God” looks like or accomplishes and he may not readily understand such truth. We must form a bridge between the notion of the “power of God” and the notion of an “inferiority complex”. To the degree that we make such connections, our theology reaches application and effectiveness but to the degree that our theology fails to draw upon such correlations is the definition of how much work we have left to do. Due to the clarity of God and divine accommodation in Scripture, Moses has already provided such a bridge-the image of God. By way of “image of God”, the adolescent is able to more clearly comprehend the reality of the “power of God” in his life.

Often in frustration we assume that the anger, confusion or poor performance of the believing adolescent is because he/she doubts God’s sovereignty, lacks faith or is sinful. But the adolescent’s despondent approach to situations in life may be because he/she is experiencing difficulty in comprehending the power and presence of God in their own lives because we have not properly and effectively communicated such truths to them. Hopefully, we can breach this divide as Moses did and always take the adolescent to the bridge.

Co-Founder Michael Michael